It's A Wild World Out There
by Shade Penn
Summary: Pre-Series. AU. Kushina had never really given thought to the stange things that happened around her, but on her 11th birthday before the Kyuubi is sealed in her, she learns that her special chakra isn't just what made her different from everyone else. She's Katako, or as the Americans call it-the Antichrist. Eventual Minato/Kushina.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The night was an oddly calm one, Tsunade mused to herself as she looked out at the clear sky that was just having a string of meteors flying across it a moment ago. '_But then a moment ago, _that_ baby hadn't been born.'_ She added.

She had been surprised to have heard from her grandmother after all these years from the woman's self-imposed exile, but Tsunade didn't pass up the chance to see her reclusive grandmother, it was the _news_ that she heard which had been the real kicker.

Her grandmother, as hard as it was to believe-neigh, it _was_ physiologically impossible, and yet her grandmother had told her she was _pregnant!_

And Mito had wanted her to help her along as the pregnancy continued; hoping to distract the blonde woman from the tragedy of losing her brother as the offered reason.

Tsunade had only agreed to help in the end because this woman was still her grandmother and hopefully said grandmother would tell her how this was possible in the first damn place.

Well, it was two minutes after the birth and she still hadn't gotten anything, only the assurance that Kyuubi had decided to stay out of it because she didn't want any trouble.

Yeah, the 'she' part had caught her off guard too.

And what really worried her was the fact Kyuubi wanted to stay _out_ of the way for this, Mito relaying no further explanation to that and only said that Kyuubi was also not gonna bother with trying to escape because it would just be too bothersome until later when she got to get a good look at the child first hand.

Now that part also worried Tsunade because it sounded a lot like Kyuubi was expecting the child to be her new host, and really, that was probably going to be the case, though the details of how this child was going to be raised still needed to be ironed out.

Tsunade walked away from the window and over to the bassinet near the bed where Mito lay, still weak from giving birth. She looked down at the child herself for a first hand glimpse and saw two piercing half-lidded purple eyes staring back up at her, the gaze holding her there before the baby girl closed them and fell asleep with a yawn.

Tsunade shook herself and saw the starting of red wispy hair growing on the child's head and the too dainty features, making her look like a fragile doll.

"Tsunade-chan how is she?" Mito called softly.

"She's fallen asleep." Tsunade replied glancing back at her grandmother and gathered up her resolve. "Now will you please tell me _how_ this is even possible?"

Mito stared at her for a moment before chuckling weakly. "It was quite simple really; it was done_ artificially_, no copulation involved at all."

Tsunade made a face at that and tried not to think about it. "But _why_ though?"

"Because I am after Kyuubi's host, just had there been another woman given this burden to bear she would have been chosen for it instead." Mito replied.

Tsunade suddenly started to feel something akin to dread, her answer right there in the next sentence her grandmother would speak if she asked, but there was something in her that _didn't_ want to ask because she knew she wouldn't like the answer she received.

But yet she still had to ask.

"Chosen for what exactly?"

Mito looked ready to speak before thinking better of it. "No, if I tell you, you will think less of me."

Tsunade found this highly disturbing. "What…what do mean?"

Mito looked down at her lap, suddenly looking every bit her age. "That baby…is a hybrid."

Tsunade furrowed her brow. "But…but you said…" she trailed off and her eyes widened. "You mean…is only half human?" Mito nodded. The blonde woman had figured that _maybe_ there was something strange about the child, but to actually know… "What…what _kind_ of hybrid is she?"

Mito was silent for a moment longer before answering. "Katako." She whispered. "But I'm sure you know that the Americans have another name for what she is."

Tsunade paled as she finally got her answer. And she was right; she really had been dreading it. "Oh." She muttered and glanced back over at the child. "What…what about her childhood, her life? Who's going to raise her?"

The blonde saw Mito looking at her and she hurriedly shook her head. "No, I'm _not_ going to raise her, I can't raise a kid!"

Mito shook her head. "No, I'm not asking you to do that." She said and Tsunade didn't bother to keep her sigh in. "I just need you to take her to an orphanage in Whirlpool, leave her there anonymously, with the instructions to send her back to Konoha when she is older in order for her to receive Kyuubi."

Tsunade was rather stunned. "An orphanage? An _orphanage_?" she repeated, but kept her voice calm. "Why leave her there? Isn't there anyone else who could take care of her?"

"She will be well cared for, we are after all, _family_." Mito replied pointedly and Tsunade looked down to avoid her gaze.

"Sorry." She muttered. "Then what am I supposed to call her for them to know what to call her?"

Mito paused again before looking over at the bassinet. "Her name is…Kushina."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ever since Kushina could remember, she had never really thought there was anything strange about her; sure, there was the longevity but that was a normal Uzumaki thing. No, what made her question herself was the fact all the adult personnel would look at her strangely, like they expected her to attack them.

Though since she'd been told that she was left here as a baby with only her name on a paper and instructions for her to be sent to Konoha at a later date, she'd also been told that the staff had a blood seal done to show that she _was_ an Uzumaki, but Kushina still didn't know why they were so worried.

The 7 year old thought there wasn't anything different about her than the other Uzumaki orphans in the orphanage, and while the staff _did_ treat her well like the others, they paused briefly before helping her with anything.

Maybe it had something to do with her parentage. Oh, if only she could've taken a look at that note to see what had been written down on it. But she didn't know where the note was kept. The redheaded child sighed as she cleaned up her mess of trying to do her seal homework and scrunched her nose in concentration while wiping up the spilled ink to make sure she got it all.

Sometimes the personnel could be real neat freaks.

"Kushina?"

The child blinked and looked up at one of the staff. "What? I'm almost done cleaning up."

The woman nodded. "I see," she said lightly, "but as you know, you're birthday was several days ago…"

Kushina sat up abruptly. "What is it?" she asked getting a slightly queasy feeling in her stomach. Was she getting kicked out? "I'm not getting kicked out am I?!"

The woman raised her hands high in placation, jerking back as if she expected the young child to go for her neck. "Understand Kushina that this is only us following the instructions from the note you were left with…"

Kushina paused in her wild thoughts and waited for the older redhead to continue.

"…that said you were to be sent to Konohagakure once you turned seven."

The child had been expecting a lot of things to be said, but not that she was supposed to be _sent away_. From someone she didn't even _know_. Granted, she suspected that it might've been one of her parents who left the note, but maybe going away would help with the 'peace' she'd been attempting to find in the harshness of the war outside in the Elemental countries.

Realizing that the staff woman still looked at her like she was going to attack, Kushina grinned and scratched the back of her head. "Just freaked for a sec; _really, _nothing to worry about, dattebane!"

The woman smiled warily back before lowering her hands slowly. "You're going to be sent there later in the week, your escort will be taking to you to Konoha, please have your things packed." Looking very relieved to be done with giving her news, the woman briskly walked away.

Kushina blinked as she went back to cleaning up the ink, a frown on her face. Who would want her to go to Konoha? Again, it probably had something to do with her parents, but a nagging feeling in the back of her mind was telling her something was being left out.

She didn't like that feeling, didn't like being _bossed around_, even if it was by a feeling. So she ignored it and thought about whom to say goodbye to, only to come up with a blank. Try as she might, she'd never connected with the other orphans, despite the fact they'd had being parentless in common.

No, it had been because apparently no one _could_ adopt her that ostracized her from the other children. When she'd asked one the staff about this, they said it was from that note. Kushina had come to a very real conclusion when she found that out; this place wasn't for her to live in until she got adopted, this place _was_ where she would be living and would not be allowed to _be_ adopted.

But now it seemed like she was going to be transferred. She was only calm about this whole thing because in her mind she didn't really _understand_ what any of what this meant. She could've asked more questions about _why, why, why_ until she was blue in the face, but she knew no one was going to answer them because that letter told them not to.

And she'd done just that and it was the response she'd gotten.

Really, maybe Konoha would be a good thing…it could have just had something to do with her 'special chakra' as the staff called it anyway.

* * *

Kushina felt like a fish out of water as she stared at the children with different hair colors, knowing none of them were her kin. She clutched her bag tighter and looked up at the staff member, her face gathering resolve. "Where do I sleep?"

"Where the other girls sleep." The woman replied and Kushina felt the tension lessen. So this was just like any other orphanage, she could deal with that. "Now why don't you go and get to know everyone? You've had a long day of travel."

Kushina watched the woman leave; blinking at the fact _these_ people hadn't reacted the same way the people at her village's orphanage had acted. Her eyes widened at the fact they probably didn't _know_ what she didn't know also, or they knew and just didn't care.

The latter seemed like wishful thinking on her part; whatever had caused such fear in her own kin would have caused fear in likely anyone.

If only she just _knew_ what was supposed to have been so scary about her; was it her special chakra? It seemed kinda funny that they'd be scared of _that_ since large reserves and longevity were part of the norm in Whirlpool.

Kushina shook her head, brushing away the thoughts and resolutely walked over to the group of girl playing with the blocks. "Konnichiwa."

The girls looked up, blinking at the redhead. "Are you new or something?"

"Hai, can I play?" Kushina questioned and grinned when the girls nodded and she sat down on her knees.

"Wow, your hair is so long!" One of the girls said in amazement and pulled the short strands of her own hair. "How do you get it that way?"

Kushina shrugged. "Everyone has long hair in my clan, we grow it out." She said and had never thought that long hair was any big deal. Or being a redhead, but as she glanced around, no one in the room had red hair either.

Already she was feeling singled out, but perhaps this Academy she had to go to would be have redheads.

* * *

"And don't call me a tomato!" 10 year old Kushina snarled, her hair flying wildly out behind her as she beat her fists on the boy who yet again called her that stupid 'nickname.' She huffed and moved away, watching the other orphanage kids' crowd around the boy.

Ever since that day in the classroom when she was 7, she'd been 'tomato' ever since and she'd reacted violently to it. She'd just _hated_ that name, it wasn't _her fault_ she had red hair and a round facial structure.

Kushina made her way down the hall to her room, her side cramping up and she felt uncomfortable with the pad she had to wear ever since this 'change' had begun. She was only two days in and she wished she had more pads because she didn't have enough. The redhead grumbled under her breath about how that stupid nickname had made her go all berserker on the other kids.

When she reached the room, she found a small pile of pads neatly stacked on her bed. She blinked and looked up as the sound of the door opening reached her eyes and she saw one of the aged personnel walk in. "Sit down, Kushina." She said and the child did as she was told. "Now, why did you beat up that boy?"

"He called me a tomato." Kushina replied sullenly.

"And that gives you the right to beat up the other children?" The woman questioned and she sighed. "Why are you so violent?"

Kushina felt her eyes widen in disbelief. Sure, she knew that she beat up the other kids for calling her that name, but no one ever told _them_ to stop picking on _her_ either. "You're blaming _me_ for them being too stupid to stop picking on me? I'll stop when _they_ stop. I _refuse_ to take their bullying." She said crossing her arms.

The woman sighed again, but before she could continue, another one of the personnel appeared at the door. "Ma'am, we have a message from Whirlpool about Uzumaki Kushina," he said and both Kushina and the woman's eyes widened, "a representative is going to be arriving on the day of her birthday and is requesting to speak with the girl."

Someone from Whirlpool was coming to see her? Kushina felt a faint hope coming over her, was she going to go back to her village? Her birthday wasn't that far away and after shock wore off, she started to feel excited.

The woman in front of her noticed the pile of pads and raised a brow. "Where did you get those?"

Kushina froze briefly. Someone _hadn't_ put them here for her? "Storage." She said easily, and no one had any reason to say otherwise. "I got them from storage." Now only if she could get that _note_ as easily as these pads.

The man at the door stiffened as his eyes glazed over and he mechanical pulled something from his pocket. "This was also sent for you." He said holding out a parchment.

Kushina blinked as she quickly got up and moved over to the door and snatched the parchment up, her eyes lighting up as she saw it was about _her_, it was the _note_. "Please leave, I have some reading to do." She said making her way back to her bed, not noticing the way both personnel left, eyes glazed over.

The redhead sat down and started to read from the beginning, her excitement eventually fading into horror as her jaw dropped and the paper fell from her hands.

_Whirlpool Personnel,_

_The baby you find this with on the doorstep is a very special member of your clan. Before I tell you why, you must treat her as if she were another child._

_Now onto business, this child's name is Uzumaki Kushina, and she is to stay in your orphanage until she turns 7, where she will be sent to Konohagakure's ninja academy. She is not to be adopted by any other member of your clan. _

_When she turns 11, she is to be taken to Lady Mito for the transfer of the Kyuubi. Her chakra is special and will be able to contain the fox. Do not treat this girl as if were the fox, she is not to know about any of this._

_Anonymous_

After all this time…_this_ was what her life was going to amount to? Being a Jinchuuriki? Kushina felt her anger raise, her fist clench and overhead the lights all went out, the sound of startled screams reaching her ears, but the redhead didn't care.

Her life was over as it was.

* * *

When Kushina turned 11, she accepted the Kyuubi explanation and remained stone-faced as she was taken to the compound where the transfer would happen. The girl was allowed to meet with Lady Mito and only when she saw the old woman did her bottled up emotions come pouring out.

"Lady Mito, why is this happening?" she whispered, her broken sobs cutting through the air.

The old woman petted the girl's hair soothingly. "Kushina-chan, there is something you need to know before this happens." She said and Kushina looked up at her and the woman wiped the tears away. "I…I was present at your birth." She admitted.

Kushina looked up at her with wide purple eyes. "You were?" she whispered. "Do you know who my parents were?"

Something that looked suspiciously like guilt passed over Mito's face. "I…I knew your mother." she said softly. "Never met your father, though I suppose there's a reason for that."

Kushina blinked at this. "What is it? Is he dead or something?"

Mito smiled wryly. "Or something." She whispered. "You must understand; the circumstances of your birth were a…complicated matter." She paused and sighed. "No, I don't think you're ready to hear this."

"Lady Mito, with all due respect, I'm about to have Kyuubi sealed into me, what could be worse than that?" Kushina asked and she felt fear grip her heart as the reason for her having come here came back to the forefront of her mind. "Really," she said in a more dour tone and sniffled, "what could be worse?"

Mito really didn't like she what she was about to say. "Kushina-chan…" she paused and swallowed hard before shakily continuing, "you are…you are Katako."

Kushina sucked in a sharp breath and even _she_ knew what that meant and shook her head, her eyes growing wide with terror. "No, no, that _can't_ be. I can't be…I can't be…"

"Have you ever found something strange happening around you that you couldn't explain?" Mito questioned as she continued petting the girl's hair to try and keep her calm. "Or found people acting strange around you?"

Kushina scrunched up her face and thought back to the last year. "I thought it was just because of my special chakra that this was all happening?" she whispered.

Mito felt her heartstrings getting tugged and knew she had to hurry this along before she blurted out something neither one of them were ever going to be ready for. "I'm afraid not; you see, I do not what abilities you possess, but from what I'm to understand, if you express a dire for something, it happens. I supposed the loosest term would be 'reality warper,' but I don't know the full extent of what you are able to do." She explained and her face turned grave. "But, after the sealing is done, I want you to do something."

Kushina looked at her in confusion. "What is it?"

"I want you to _run_." Mito said. "I know exactly what being a Jinchuuriki entails and trust me on this, it's better to be far away from the people who could exploit it for their own gain. You've learned all you need to from Konoha; you have no inclinations to stay there once this is done."

Kushina thought this over before frowning to herself. "But where will I go?"

"Far away," Mito said softly, "use your powers, and go _far away from here_. Go to another orphanage; or family, just _go_ afterwards, promise me that."

Kushina paused before answering before figuring that Mito was right. The woman _was_ a Jinchuuriki after all and knew what she was saying, so why shouldn't she trust her judgement on this? "Okay, I promise." she said and thought that the relief on the old woman's face was because she was glad she wouldn't be subjected to prejudice.

But Kushina kept her promises and thought the reason really didn't matter so long as she did it.

* * *

Kushina blinked as she opened her eyes and found that she wasn't in the sealing room anymore. "Where am I?"

"Where do you think?" A low female voice growled.

Kushina froze as she sat up and turned around to see a giant fox pinned up by long chains. "Kyuubi." She whispered.

The fox seemed to be rolling her eyes. "Yes, and you're the Katako, tell me something I don't know."

Kushina flinched. "You know about that too huh?"

"I've known about you since you were in the womb." Kyuubi said sniffing haughtily. "And stop flinching, where's that fiery temper I've heard being reported about you?"

Kushina blinked, then felt like slapping herself when a _demon_ of all things reminded her of the fact she was acting so meek all of a sudden. She scowled and gathered her resolve. "Well you're just a giant fluff ball, what do you think about that?" she retorted.

Kyuubi smirked, a terrifying thing on its own but Kushina refused to back down. "There you go." She muttered. "And it's not 'Kyuubi,' that's my _title_, my _name_ is Kurama."

Kushina felt herself gape momentarily. "We both have nine in our names." She whispered.

"Yes, but the last syllable of your name means 'good' and how ironic is that?" 'Kurama' said, her smirk widening.

Kushina flushed in anger. "I _am_ good! Sure, I sometimes beat the other kids up, but they deserve it for calling me names! But being the Katako doesn't change _anything!_"

"Good for you, girl." Kurama said sardonically. "Now go forth and let me out."

"No." Kushina deadpanned.

Kurama seemed to be shrugging. "Worth a shot."

Kushina furrowed her brow. "Why aren't you trying to escape? And don't tell me it's just because I am the Katako."

"But it _is_ for that reason." Kurama insisted. "When I found out you existed, I was…intrigued you could say, and being _your_ demon is certainly going to be interesting. Besides, I wanna see what goes through your devious little head."

Kushina narrowed her eyes. "I'm not devious."

Kurama snorted. "Oh, will see."

Kushina scowled and thought about waking up, blinking once before finding herself back 'outside' and on a cot. She lifted up her shirt and focused her chakra before the seal appeared and she sucked in a breath before letting it out softly.

So all the stuff that happened really happened and it wasn't a dream. She remembered her promise to Mito and closed her eyes, the word 'family' sticking out for some reason. She knew her mother might be a part of her clan and the clan was the last place she wanted to be at the moment.

So before she felt the world start to shift around her, she thought, '_I wonder what Lady Mito meant by 'family.'_

When she opened her eyes, Kushina found herself in a different room that she didn't recognize and found that the doorways were a little odd as they didn't have the paper door separating the other parts of the place she was in.

Kushina walked over to the window and looked outside. So far nothing _looked_ that different, but she knew all too well how looks could be deceiving. And while she'd only known about her _other_ little secret for less than a day, it still counted as even _she_ didn't know what she was all this time.

For a moment, the redhead reflected on her time in Konoha. She wouldn't particularly miss it as the other kids had picked on her, but then again she did beat them up viciously for it. She'd wanted daily 'peace' and now she just might really get it since she was nowhere near the war.

Well, hopefully anyway as she still didn't know _where_ she was at the moment.

Who knows what her life would have been like back in Konoha, but she disregarded it and looked ahead. And only then did she realize that maybe leaving so hastily was a bit of a hotheaded move on her part. She'd still promised though and Mito probably _knew_ what would happen if she'd stayed; although she _had_ been quite insistent about Kushina leaving for some reason.

Well, it was too late to question her about it since she was _dead_ now, but still, she should have questioned Mito more, though she was terrified of making her angry.

Kushina heard someone make a strange sound, though she didn't recognize the language she was sure it was a curse of some kind. She blinked and looked over at the newcomer, furrowing her brow at why he looked so surprised.

Then again, if his quickly paling expression was anything to go by and the fact he cursed again meant he must be able to see something about her that made it easy to tell what she was.

Just her luck that _she_ couldn't see what it was. Nor could understand him, but that was beside the point at the moment.

But what she did know what that he _knew_ somehow as the next thing he said she _could_ understand-the translation that is to her own language. _Antichrist._

Well, seems she found who she was looking for.

* * *

One of the personnel overseeing the demon transfer found a woman looking at an empty cot. "Excuse me, what are you doing in here?"

"The child, was she moved?"

The redhead blinked as she frowned. "No, she's supposed to be recovering. Perhaps you could explain why you're here?"

"She's not here anymore." The woman said, ignoring the redhead's question. "Which means as of now," she said and turned around, the redhead reeling back at the blank white eyes, "this place is inconsequential."

In one resounding blast, the compound was gone.


End file.
